You Can't Hide From Me
by DizzyDawn007
Summary: Hermione left England three years ago. Now she has her own bookstore, not to mention a new identity. Draco Malfoy just happens to be looking for her. What could possibly happen? It's a one-shot, just to let you know.


Hey! I'm writing this cause I just can't get the idea to stay out of my head, so this is my only choice. I hope you enjoy, (if you don't, that's just too bad)

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You Can't Hide From Me

By DizzyDawn007

The year was 2007, three years after graduation. Our story starts in California. We join a Ms. Ciara Winter at her workplace, her bookstore, Rock Paper Scissors. Strange name for a bookstore, but it was L.A., and you needed something to grab people's attention. Rock Paper Scissors (RPS for short) was very quaint, and had many people stopping in all the time. Now, at this time, Ciara was busy at the counter. She may own the store, but for her, nothing compares to working with the books. RPS sold all kinds of books, even wizarding books, though those books were in the back room, and you had to show Ciara some sort of proof before she took you to the special room. The store was large, but cozy, with windows all along two walls. Ciara softened this look by placing many comfy chairs and small tables in front of them, and the customers were able to snack and read at the same time. These large windows often enticed people from the street to come in, and that is exactly what happened with a certain blonde haired young man.

He was walking by, when he saw the sign, and recalled one of his friends mentioning it to him. He decided to stop in later, when a certain someone caught his eye. She had black hair with big, loose curls, and rather pale skin. He couldn't see what color her eyes were, and she was wearing all black clothing. Rather unusual for California, he thought. Something seemed so familiar about her, he just had to walk in. He waited several minutes until it was his turn in line, and stepped up to the counter.

"Excuse me, would you happen to have any books on, uh, something unusual?"

Her head snapped up, her eyes wide. She knew that voice, hell, she couldn't forget it – even if she wanted too. For you see, Ms. Ciara Winter was not always who she is now. She used to live in London, she used to go to Hogwarts, she used to be Hermione Granger. And Hermione Granger knew that voice.

"Malfoy? Draco Malfoy?" she whispered, rather to herself, but he heard.

"You know me? I thought you seemed familiar." He tried to look into her eyes, which he found were a vivid purple, but she wouldn't meet his own.

"Oh! No, I just, just know who you are, that's all." She thought a minute, before meeting his eyes. After all, Ciara had no reason to dislike Draco, even though Hermione did. However, he was not expecting her eyes to remind him so strongly of the one he loved. Wide and serious, yet seemingly wild and curious. He stopped for a moment, and so did she.

"Didn't know I was that popular over here. How did you hear of me?" He was curious, he had to know.

"Oh, that's not important, just some friends. What kind of books were you interested in?" She tried desperately to change the subject. He let it drop, but determined to himself that he would know one way or another. Oh yes, he would be back.

"Um…Do you have any books on London, Hogwarts perhaps?"

"Oh yes! Many in fact, would you like to take a look?" He thought she seemed rather excited about it when she was supposedly American.

"No, sorry. I can't, just today. I wasn't really planning on coming in here, so I don't have any money on me. But I'll be back. Hope to see you."

He left the store smiling to himself. That girl, he was sure she was hiding something. She intrigued him in a way that only one other woman had, and that one was currently missing. Just disappeared one day, without a trace. And he needed to know why. Because that woman, who had vanished, whom he loved, was Hermione Granger.

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It was five months later, and Draco had been stopping by the shop every day that it was open. Today, however, he was running late, and this nasty thunderstorm wasn't helping at all. In the shop, Hermione was just closing up. It was raining pretty hard, and the power had gone out, so she was closing early. Deep down in her heart, she was sort of disappointed when Draco hadn't made his regular appearance, but she would never let that show. Draco was part of the reason she left in the first place, the reason she ran. It hadn't hurt as much as expected, but it still hurt some to just leave all her friends behind like that. At the time, though, she had felt she hadn't a choice, it was just too much for her to handle. She moved three thousand miles away, and he still showed up. She snapped out of her daze when Sarah asked if she wanted a ride home.

"No, I'd rather walk, thanks though."

"Walk? In this weather? Ciara, that's not safe!"

"I'll be fine. I have my ways of protection."

"Well, alright. But I'll be calling in an hour to make sure you got home safely."

"Fine with me, dear. I'll call you tomorrow if you don't have to come in."

Sarah nodded, and walked out the back entrance. Hermione went out the front, locking up behind her. About half a block later, a car pulled up beside her. Rolling down the window, she saw it was Draco behind the wheel.

"Want a ride?"

"No, thank you. I'd prefer to walk."

"In the rain?"

"I like the rain."

"Then I'll walk with you." He got out of his car, and went to stand beside her.

"No, really, I'm fine."

"Nonsense, I couldn't let a lady walk alone in the rain."

"If you insist."

"I do."

She started walking once more. The walk there was mostly silent, as Hermione was rather, well, preoccupied with her thoughts, and Draco didn't want to interrupt her. Soon, they reached her house, pausing at the door.

"It was quite a nice walk, Ciara. I'll have to go walking in the rain more often. Hopefully, I'll be seeing you tomorrow." He turned and started walking back down her stone pathway.

"Draco, wait!" He turned around, waiting for her to say something else. "Would you like to come in, maybe have a cup of coffee. I mean, you didn't come by the shop today, and it would be terribly rude of me to let you walk back to your car without something to warm you up."

"Why thank you, that sounds very nice." He walked back up the path, trying his hardest not to smile.

She opened the door, and let him in. Following her into the kitchen, he was not surprised to see she owned her own mocha machine. Soon the mochas were done, and they went out into the living room. Hermione started to bite her lip, and he could tell she was about to ask him a question.

"I'm sorry, but I've just got to ask. Why are you here? I mean, from what I've heard, you had it all going for you in England, why did you leave?"

"I'm looking for someone."

"Oh. (long pause) Who, if I could ask?"

"The woman I love, Hermione Granger."

She dropped her mocha, and didn't even realize it until it smashed on her hardwood floor. He was looking for her? Three years had passed and he was looking for her? For the woman he loved? She stared dazedly at him, for what seemed like forever.

"Oh." Was her simple and breathless reply. She bent down to pick up the pieces of her mug and was thankful for an excuse to not look at him. Hermione left the room, and came back with a towel. She mopped up what was left of her mocha, and placed the now wet towel on the coffeetable. She stood back up, not quite sure what to do, and suddenly, he was standing in front of her. Before she knew what was happening, his lips were on hers, and she was slowly being backed up. Hermione's knees hit the couch, and she found herself being laid on her back, Draco climbing on top of her, holding her by the waist. Slowly, he moved on to the crook of her neck. She gasped as he lightly bit her shoulder. Pulling back, he looked her straight in the eyes.

"Draco, I'm not….I'm not Her….I can't do this…"

"Don't lie to me. I know you're Hermione, and I know what you think happened – but you got it wrong. Hermione, I've waited three years. I've looked for you, waited for you too long. Don't hide from me again, please, I'm begging you. Don't run away again. You can't hide from me."

"I…Draco…I….?"

"I love you Hermione, please, don't leave again." She looked into his eyes, and immediately regretted it, because she saw so much love and longing, and how can someone say no to that? She closed her eyes, one hand slowly creeping up his toned arm, around his neck, gently pulling him closer. Just before her lips met his, she opened her eyes, and whispered breathlessly, "I'm glad you found me." A second later, her lips met his in a sweet and simple kiss. That kiss answered all his questions, and quieted all her fears. Draco knew, in that very instant, that they would be together, that she would never leave him. And he was right.

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Well? This is a very short and simple one-shot. It came to me one night, and it hadn't developed into anything more than this, so I decided to post it as is. But that's okay, cause I like it like this. It's my first one-shot, YAY! Bye. Dizzy 


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